Let’s Roll – The Story of a Nostalgic Tool Chest

My brother and I always joked that we could never find the right tool my Dad asked us to get from his tool chest. Dad would have his head under the hood of one of our family cars, and he would reach out his arm and holler, “Get me the number-10 wrench.” Either my brother or I, whomever had the bad luck to be in the garage at the moment, would be the one who had to sort through Dad’s massive collection of wrenches, screwdrivers, ratchets and miscellaneous tools for what purpose we could only guess, to find the tool in need.

It was a happy day in our household when Dad got a rolling chest tool cabinet that stored all of his tools neatly and in an organized fashion. He would then yell out from his metal cloak of car body, “Hand me the Phillips head from the third drawer, on the right,” and we could actually locate the tool in demand.

Though Dad’s fix-it years are over, his tool chest sits in the garage still, loaded with every imaginable tool for repairing cars, household appliances, furniture, electronics, and just about everything else around the house that he maintained and fixed for us through the years. As my little red tool box expands as I become a regular DIY-fer, I wonder if it is time for me to graduate to my very own rolling chest!